Jon Gruden wanted Panthers job with total control

[Stroupe-a-loop]

Lame duck coach?

Yes that's what he is and yes that's what we have to go through once again

This is a whole different ball game than John Fox's last season. And unless Jimmy ends up quarterbacking again, it's going to be very different.

[Zod]

Dungy's "perennial playoff team" was one and done the two years before he was fired.

From 1996-2001 Dungy led teams had exactly 2 Playoff wins in Tampa Bay.

Gruden took the Bucs where Dungy was incapable of taking them.

Dungy had 4 one and dones in Indy, bad trend.

lol

[KendrickPanther]

I'll take Rivera over Gruden. He was terrible in Tampa. It was a steady decline in his tenure.

[KendrickPanther]

When did Gruden become a coaching God? He was mediocre in Tampa. He needed a Hall of Fame riddled defense to carry his offense to victory. He would destroy Cam Newton with his flip jet x jet double double post route niner mumbo jumbo that Cam doesn't understand.

[Goondal]

For the life of me I have never understood the fascination with Gruden. His tenure with TB always makes me think of Larry Coker's at Miami-Fla. They both took over teams with an absurdly talented defense and basically had to not screw it up. Then after the title their teams began steep declines.

[BerryLoMein]

If someone were given full control i would rather it be Cowher.

[Stroupe-a-loop]

If someone were given full control i would rather it be Cowher.

Cowher wanted Shawn Andrews over Roethlisberger, so I wouldn't be super comfortable with him calling all the shots.

[Kevin Greene]

Cowher wanted Shawn Andrews over Roethlisberger, so I wouldn't be super comfortable with him calling all the shots.

Pittsburgh worked by committee, and the Manning refusal to play in SD changed things as well..

.

As the 2004 NFL Draft approached there were three standout quarterbacks available: Manning, Rivers, and Roethlisberger. The San Diego Chargers held the number one overall pick and were set to draft Eli Manning first overall and make him their franchise quarterback. The Giants held the fourth pick in the draft and wanted Manning, but were ready to draft Ben Roethlisberger with the fourth pick since Manning would likely go number one overall. The Steelers sat at pick 11 with hopes of drafting whoever had not yet been picked.

Steelers coach Bill Cowher was set on drafting Phillip Rivers he believed that Rivers was the best of the three quarterbacks and he was his pick if he had the choice. However, as the draft approached Manning made it clear that he would not sign with the Chargers. If the picked him with the first pick he would holdout until he was traded to another team. The question then arose: who will trade for Manning and which quarterback is the Chargers second favorite.

Chargers’ coach Marty Schottenheimer had coached Rivers during the Senior Bowl and had named him as his second option over Roethlisberger. When the draft came the Chargers selected Manning and later traded him to the Giants for Rivers and two other picks. The Steelers were left with only one option at quarterback; Miami of Ohio star Ben Roethlisberger. However, Cowher was upset about missing out on Rivers and was not convinced Roethlisberger was the man for the Steelers. Cowher and Steelers GM Kevin Colbert discussed drafting offensive tackle Shawn Andrews and sticking with Tommy Maddux at quarterback (Andrews is out of the league after playing for the Eagles and Giants until 2010).

That is when owner Dan Rooney stepped in and said “take the quarterback.” The Steelers listened and used the number 11 pick on Ben Roethlisberger. Over the past eight seasons Roethlisberger has led the Steelers to three Super Bowls and has won two. Eli Manning has been to two Super Bowls and won both. Rivers has been close a few times, but has yet to make it to the Super Bowl. He has been ousted from the playoffs and stripped of a Super Bowl birth by Eli’s brother Peyton Manning and by Roethlisberger himself.

The Steelers fortunes could have been much different had Eli agreed to play with the Chargers, but Steeler Nation should be thankful he held out.

[Stroupe-a-loop]

Pittsburgh worked by committee, and the Manning refusal to play in SD changed things as well..

.

I'd never heard where he and seifert stood on Rivers. But it still remains that Rooney saved those cats from another year of Tommy Maddox. They probably would have ended up losing their jobs for that move. And the Steelers history would vastly different. Possibly the best move by an owner that we know about in the last 20 years.